What is Fundamental Wellbeing
Fundamental Wellbeing has been with humanity since at least the beginning of recorded history. It’s woven through the mythologies, religions, spiritual systems, and philosophies of both the East and West.
Some of the most popular are: the peace that passeth understanding, persistent mystical experience, mystical union, the heart of Christ, haal, fana, baqa, yiḥud, essential yeḥidah, devekut, spiritual enlightenment, non-duality, unitive consciousness, cosmic consciousness, spiritual awakening, God consciousness, union with God, deautomatization, samadhi, satori, silence beyond/behind sound, the high-plateau experience, and self-transcendence.
This site uses the public term coined by one of the leading academic research centers in this area, “Fundamental Wellbeing“. We also use the term they do to refer to people who persistently experience these ways of experiencing the life, “Finders“.
If you know one or more of the terms above, you know they are often regarded as the pinnacle of human experience. Both what they are and how to reach them are often shrouded in mystery. Although widely considered “ineffable” – not able to be described in language – over recent years the tools of science have become better at overcoming this obsticle.
For example, leading-edge psychological research has identified the following components of Fundamental Wellbeing:
- Fundamental ‘okayness’ or contentment: A persistent shift in your baseline state away from anxiety, fear, worries, etc. to a fundamental sense that everything is okay
- A sense that you are fine as you are, whole, and don’t need to add anything to yourself
- Reduced or eliminated mental chatter, especially self-referential thoughts like negative self-talk
- Increased or total freedom from thoughts impacting mood
- Increased or total focus on the present moment, rather than painful pasts and anxious futures
- And increased sense of connectedness and possibility
- ‘Life Flow’ versus ‘Task Flow’
In fact, scientific interest in this area can be found since the early days of the modern academy.
The noted Harvard psychologist William James lit a flame with his treatise on the Varieties of Religious Experience that has lasted to this day.
In the time since, science has increasingly separated these experiences from the religious, spiritual, and philosophical cultural carriers that kept knowledge of Fundamental Wellbeing alive over the course of human history.
In recent decades the first major attempts at creating scientifically derived cross-cultural and pan-tradition psychological maps of Fundamental Wellbeing has been undertaken, with highly promising results. Perhaps the first major attempt at this was by noted philosopher Ken Wilber and consciousness researcher Dr. Allan Leslie Combs, and is known as the Wilber-Combs Lattice/Matrix.
About The Fundamental Wellbeing Foundation
The overall mission of the Fundamental Wellbeing Foundation (FWF), is to inspire, educate, and empower others and bring together a community of like-minded people from all diversities and walks of life to improve personal wellbeing.
Prior to establishing the foundation, we knew we wanted to help people worldwide to boost their wellbeing. So, we began to seriously look into all the different types of wellbeing that could make a difference in people’s lives. One increasingly seemed to stand out: Fundamental Wellbeing.
Fundamental Wellbeing has been the focus of academic scientific research for over 100 years, yet this work and its fruits are little known by the public. A significant part of our mission is to help with that. We also provide financial and other support to Fundamental Wellbeing related scientific research projects. And, we support scientifically-grounded efforts to help people experience Fundamental Wellbeing, and optimally integrate it into their lives.
You can learn more about our current programs here by clicking the button below.